


Destiny Calls

by Judy_The_Dreamer



Series: Mutantverse [1]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Afterlife, Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Character Death, Experimental Style, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt Tony Stark, I swear things get better after this, Major Character Injury, Multiverse, Multiverse Shenanigans, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Dies, references Avengers Academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 14:54:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30124512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Judy_The_Dreamer/pseuds/Judy_The_Dreamer
Summary: In one universe Tony dies on the battlefield, surrounded by a broken circle of friends and allies.This is not the end.Tony Stark will live again...[Starting point for the Mutantverse.]
Series: Mutantverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2216979
Kudos: 2





	Destiny Calls

**Author's Note:**

> Before you start reading, please take note of the tags and the major archive warning. This fic contains explicit character death. If you want to avoid the explicit part, skip to the section that starts in the Beyond. Remember, you curate your own reading experience.
> 
> Now that's handled, welcome to my new AU! I've been working on this one for a very long time, first in longform, and when that refused to cooperate, in shorter fic bursts. I will be building up this universe out of one-shots, which will be organised chronologically in the series overview. Between each installment there might be a difference in tone, writing style and featured characters, but Tony will always remain a central part of it.
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy this brainchild of mine.

**_October 2023, the remains of the Avengers’ Compound, Upstate New York._ **

The sky was a dark purple above where the Compound used to be. Discoloured by particles of dust and alien energy, it looked like the harbinger of the end, Tony thought as he stared up. Another shock of white hot pain shot up through his arm, setting the bone marrow in the rest of his skeleton ablaze as it crept up and up and up while he convulsed on the ground, energy too sapped to scream. 

While he burned, Pepper and Peter’s tears landed on his skin like tiny raindrops. The boy shouldn’t be here to see this. He should be far away from the battlefield, shielded from death in the safety of his home with a cup of hot cocoa on the side. Him and Morgan could have played board games and cheated each other out of their allowance. He’d wanted for nothing more than to help them become the heroes they saw themselves as, for them to grow resilient against the evils of the world. Maybe Tony had failed them both in that regard by continuing to take up the mantle of Iron Man. He wondered where they’d be in life without his shadow looming over them…

The shadows around him swarmed closer, and the flickering light of the undoused fires revealed their familiar faces. All of the Avengers were gathered around him, solemn-faced like an honour guard. Clint, still reeling from the loss of Nat, looking despondent where he stood flanked by Wanda and the Wakandan entourage. Barnes' head was bowed so deeply that Tony couldn’t even catch a glimpse of his face, but Sam had the decency to face him head-on, guilt plain on his features. The war was too fresh in their snapped memories. 

Still, there were those who’d stood beside him these past few months, beating impossible odds. Rhodey, strong and dependable as a mountain. Bruce, inventive and brave. Thor, still grieving but the stronger for it. Scott, always the odd man out but a welcome sight nonetheless. And Steve fucking Rogers, tears running down his dirt-stained cheeks, like he had any right to make Tony feel more miserable about his own death than he already was. Others stood behind him, lurking at the fringes. All of them ready to send him off to his grave.

Pepper’s hand -- at least, he thought it was her dear, sweet, gentle hand; all sensation had bled from his skin. -- came to rest against the arc reactor, which was still sending weak pulses of blue light into the world. The remaining energy charged through his abused nervous system with every pulse, drowning out the sounds around him with its electrical hum. When he managed to tilt his head back enough to meet Pepper’s eyes, her lips were moving, but he couldn’t make out a single word.

If he weren’t dying, he could have read her lips, he mused, but no, his vision was clouding over already. With alarming alacrity, familiar faces turned into mosaics of colour, shifting frantically around him. They started to shake and toss him around like a thunderstorm, their voices like howls in the wind. Only his own breathing remained calm.

Finally, Tony blinked and saw nothing.

**_The Edge of Time, The Beyond._ **

Consciousness returned to Tony like a slap to the face. One moment he’d been dead on the battlefield, the next he was standing alone  _ somewhere _ , staring out into a pitch-black expanse dotted with small globules of light. They danced across his field of vision without any apparent sense of direction or purpose. He stood naked in that dark place, his armour and clothes removed, but he could neither feel cold or the current of air that the lights moved along.

Curious, Tony reached out a hand and touched his chest where the arc reactor had permanently scarred him. No heat was given off by his skin, and the heart that usually beat underneath it lay silent and inert. He tried to breathe, but could not.

_ So I’m well and truly dead,  _ he mused, letting his hand fall back to his side _. But I think and therefore I’m alive, hah! _

From the void, a voice answered his thoughts:  _ You experienced one life in one universe, and now that life has ended. Where yours has stopped a thousand others will go on. _

Before Tony’s eyes, the lights converged and warped into a solid shape, sprouting limbs and human features along the way until a figure made of liquid gold stood before him. Their hair was so heavy with the metallic substance, causing it to drip down to the floor, while the rest of the liquid rippled across their skin, casting waves of golden light into the void. As they stared him down, their face remained expressionless like a mask.

_ What do you mean? _ He asked, lamenting that he could not swallow in nervousness anymore.  _ What thousand others? _

Moving slowly, the being lifted their hands and from them spilled a thousand golden threads to the floor.  _ I am Fate. I cut, twist and weave the threads that bind every universe together. I have woven you into the fabric of reality over and over again. All different, yet all the same. _

They lifted one thread and in a flash Tony saw himself as a teenager, but wearing clothes that definitely hadn’t been around in the nineties. His teenage self slung an arm around a familiar blonde figure in camaraderie before the image floated away. 

_ I think I get the idea. Why me? _

From the corner of one eye, a blue teardrop trailed down a golden cheek, leaving an iridescent, cerulean trail. The being’s eyes, he noted belatedly, were monochrome blue as well, without iris or white to give them any discernible emotion. 

_ Normally, there’s only peace and beauty once the thread is severed,  _ they said mournfully,  _ but yours has continued on while your host body has ceased to exist. Fate keeps spinning your thread on and on, robbing your soul of peace. _

_ Then I’m trapped here!  _ Fear gripped Tony as he looked around them at the monotone, unending void. He couldn’t live in this place with his thoughts alone; he’d rather let his soul be destroyed. 

_ Not necessarily _ , Fate said soothingly as she raised a hand to touch his cheek in comfort. Her touch felt like warm water dancing over his skin.  _ It just means that your journey must go on. I shall guide you to a new life. Hopefully, we’ll not have to see each other again at the end of that one.  _

His mind drifted back to the image of a younger, less burdened him.  _ Will it be like that? _

A shake of the head.  _ Even different still, but don’t be afraid, young one. I have arranged for a friend to come along.  _

A soft, human hand curled around his, and from the corner of his eye Tony caught a flash of bright red hair. His heart, if it had still been capable of beating, would have jumped for joy.

_ Natasha? _ He asked, disbelieving.

The mischief in her smile was intimately familiar.  _ Hello, Tony. Are you ready to leave? _

Glancing back at Fate’s golden figure, Tony bowed his head in thanks.  _ Beats being stuck here. So yes, I suppose. _

A rumble that could have been a laugh emerged from Fate. _ Good enough. _

Tony blinked, and darkness descended upon him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos or a comment if you liked it. See you next time!


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